Omar Sharif on Lawrence of Arabia: 'I was the only actor David Lean liked'

Sharif, who was one of the few Arab actors to achieve mainstream Hollywood success, grew up in Cairo. In an interview in 2012, he recalled how his mother would socialise with King Farouk as well as dole out regular beatings to her son.

“By night she would play cards, by day she would give me the slipper,” he said. “She hit me on my backside every day till I was 14. She was an extraordinary woman – she lived till 1998. I was very close to her, even though she beat me all the time!”

Sharif was Oscar-nominated for his role in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia and went on to win a Golden Globe for his performance. It was his first English-language role after appearing in over 20 Egyptian films.

He spoke about the film to the Guardian in 2012: “When I made this film I thought: ‘This is a crazy thing. There are no girls, no very famous actors at that time, only men and no action, not a lot of action. Not a lot of fights.’ It was so good because the director was a brilliant man. That’s the truth. David Lean was a great, great man.”

He soon became a major Hollywood player and followed his breakthrough performance with roles in Behold a Pale Horse alongside Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn, and in the 1965 epic Genghis Khan, playing the title role. In the same year, he reunited with Lean to star in Doctor Zhivago, which earned him another Golden Globe.

Sharif also starred alongside Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl and its sequel, Funny Lady. His decision to work with Streisand, who supported the State of Israel, angered the Egyptian government.

Interview: Omar Sharif

Read more

Speaking to the Guardian in 2004, he conceded not all of his back catalogue were classics. Three since 1972 were “really bad,” he said. “To learn bad dialogue is so difficult and so boring,” he said, “and to work with a stupid director who tells you to do the wrong thing, etcetera, it’s just unbearable.”

Sharif worked less frequently in recent years, and his last role was in 2013 drama Rock the Casbah. He has one film still to be released: a short called 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham.

Off-screen, Sharif led an eventful life, even into his 70s. In 2003 the star was given a one-month suspended prison sentence and a €1,500 fine for head-butting a policeman in a Parisian casino. In 2005 he was ordered to attend anger management classes and served two years probation after assaulting a Beverly Hills parking valet.

Omar Sharif: an exquisite actor whose charisma baffled Hollywood

Read more

He was caught on video in 2011, apparently slapping a journalist after she attempted to take a photo with him at the Doha international film festival.

As well as being an unlikely supporter of Hull City Football Club, Sharif was a world-renowned bridge player, and recently developed an iPhone app around the card game. In November 2005, he received Unesco’s Sergei Eisenstein medal in recognition of his contributions to world film and cultural diversity.

Stars have been paying tribute to the late actor on Twitter. Antonio Banderas, who acted alongside him in The 13th Warrior, tweeted: “My great friend Omar Sharif has passed away. I will always miss him. He was one of the best. D.E.P.” Roland Emmerich, who directed him in 10,000 BC, tweeted: “Very saddened by the passing of Omar Sharif. Blessed that I was able to work with such a legend. Love to the family.”